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32
ten o'clock
4. Is your daily routine alwaysthe same?
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TEXT
One Day of Peter's life
(Story by Peter and Heidi Elliott)
I usually manage to be first at waking up — my brother Daniel (he's six) would stay in bed until seven
o'clock. Mum can't understand it but it seems obvious to me that this is when the day starts, so why miss the
beginning? After a quick warm-up and a chat we creep downstairs to see what's been left around from the
night before, although Mum is wise to this and has usually put away anything really interesting.
The refrigerator is always a fairly good place to start, and cold rice pudding tastes much better for
breakfast than it does for pudding.¹ In fact I've tried most things at this hour, from cold stuffed marrow to
raw sausages; some of it isn't recommendable and some of it can get you into a lot of trouble. Anyway, I can
always make my own breakfast of cereals with plenty of sugar and not much milk. We made Mum's² the
other day but she didn't like the chopped peppercorns and Oxos³ that we added to it. Mind you, it didn't look
too good.
Well, just when we get into a good game, Mum comes down and says that we have to put all the furniture
back and get dressed. I always have the last say in what I'm going to wear, which is always jeans and a tee-
shirt. I'm just not relaxed if I'm wearing smart trousers. I like a loose jacket and a hat; my old cowboy hat is
a bit misshapen but I do not mind that, it seems to put me in the right mood for the day.
It's time to take Daniel to school. I really enjoy this trip at the moment because I've got a super little bike
which I ride there and back. Well, I don't exactly ride it because both pedals have fallen off and the chain has
snapped, so now it's more like a hobby-bike. I use my feet for brakes and propulsion.
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It works very well and
my balance is now so good that I can ride my brother's big bike if someone helps me to get on and off.
When we get to Daniel's school I have a race around the playground and annoy a few of Dan's friends
before the whistle goes, and then, as the trip home is up-hill and rather boring. Mum usually has to give me a
push. I generally play then, or visit a friend down the lane whose brother has some super toys, which
compensates for the fact that she's a girl.
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Lunch can vary from day to day because I'm quite fussy about my food. I find it hard to sit still long
enough to eat a whole dinner, so sometimes Mum reads a book to me which makes it much more enjoyable,
and if the story is very good, I've even been known to eat things that I didn't think I liked.
I suppose that the way I spend my day must seem fairly routine to some people, but I like to use it to the
full no matter what I'm doing. I do everything with enthusiasm — whether constructing a rocket with bricks
or practising gymnastics on the bed or just sliding down the banisters, and I've noticed that people who are
older than me don't seem to have half as much fun, so I say that I'm going to enjoy myself for as long as
possible.